Puella Magi Temporal Magica
by Kiloby
Summary: We all know that the life a magical girl leads is a cruel one. In the old law, all magical girls were destined to die, or suffer something far worse... But how exactly did all those girls throughout history get on with their lives, before Madoka came to save them? This is a compilation of their stories, from the dawn of man to the end of the Universe.
1. Story One: The origins of mankind

Puella Magi Temporal Magica

By Kyle Edmond

 **Story One: The origins of mankind**

It's cold. Unbearably cold. Whenever the weather gets like this, it's a struggle to survive for everyone in the tribe, desperately huddling for warmth at night. Like every time when it gets this bad, some people don't make it, and in the following morning we will have to bury them so as not to startle the children.

I'm curled up with the others in the cave during the dead of night, struggling to keep warm while the others are sleeping soundly. I don't know how they manage it; I can't stop myself shivering for even a second, no matter how I try.

While I try to muster any sleep at all, I hear an incredible whooshing sound pierce the sky just outside the cave. I crawl out to see a light drawing a path through the clouds, gliding across the fields and into the distance. There is an explosion of colour when it reaches the ground, the sound of the crash only just audible from where I am. No one else has woken up, and it's not like I'm going to get sleep anyway…so I start to head towards it.

It takes me around an hour or so, and even with the leathers I have on my feet, the ground is digging at my soles when I finally reach the place where the odd light landed. What I come across is a gigantic crater, as wide as my village and as deep as the tallest cliffs. In its centre, there is a bizarre white object, like a large shiny boulder polished more beautifully than any arrowhead I have ever seen.

As I take it all in, I notice that there are weird patches of ground that are glowing, flickering with intense light. Even from where I'm standing, at the edge of the crater, I can feel that they are giving off massive amounts of heat!

I jump down and run towards one, getting just close enough to take in its glorious glow. I can't look at it for very long before my vision is blurred, so I just try to sit near to one and close my eyes to enjoy the sensation.

'Oh, hello there!'

I snap my eyes open when I suddenly hear a voice, and stand back up to try to find the source.

'Don't be alarmed, I'm here to help!'

The voice feels like it's inside of my head…I don't…understand. But, from where the white boulder is sitting, I see an odd creature bounding towards me. Its fur has a luscious white tone to it, with rings of crimson decorating it. I mentally curse myself for not snatching some hunting tools on the way here, I would love to skin that thing…

'I wouldn't recommend taking my skin actually, I'd like to keep it if you don't mind.'

I just stare and blink as the creature reaches me, trying to work out if this is actually happening. This thing is talking to me…in my mind? It nods and smiles at me as I'm thinking this, so it must be able to hear my thoughts too…

"How are you…doing that?" I try asking the creature, by thinking up the words.  
"…It's complicated." It replies, frowning. "I could try to explain, but I suspect that you wouldn't get it."

"Oh…okay. Who are you and what are you doing here? You fell from the sky! I thought only the gods lived up there!"  
"…gods? Ah, yes, gods. That's what I am! My name is Kyubey and I come from very far away with the mission of assisting your kind."

"I don't understand; how can you help us?"

"I have magical powers! I can grant any wish you might have, any wish at all!"

When he mentions doing anything, I turn back around to the flickering light, still fascinated by its glow.

"Could you…give me that power? I ask, indicating to the light.

"You wish to control fire? That seems easy enough. All you have to do is make a contract with me!" Kyubey replies, smiling up at me.

"That's fine by me! If fire is its name, then that is the tool I wish to control."

"Okay then, I will complete the contract now."

I watch Kyubey in confusion as he seems to stand taller on his four legs, preparing himself for something. I didn't notice until now, but his ears seem to have strange appendages that flow out from them like loose rope, and they are suddenly flying towards me as I stand here. They move towards my chest and I feel a numbing sensation as my entire body starts to glow, as if some sort of energy is flowing through me. An orb of light lifts out from my chest, reshaping itself into a crystal which I catch in my hands as it falls.

"The contract is complete." Kyubey says, smiling, "You are now a magical girl."

"A magical girl? What do you mean?" I ask, inspecting the odd crystal in my hand.

"Well, part of my mission is to create contracts, and give girls like you magical powers! Your wish seals that contract, as well as influencing your magical powers. So, for example, you now have the power to manipulate fire in your magical girl state."

"Oh, wow! So…how do I enter this 'magical girl state'?"

"Using that thing there!" Kyubey says, indicating to the shining crimson crystal in my hand, "It's a soul gem, and all you have to do is concentrate and it will channel your energy so that you can transform into a magical girl."

I nod, cradling the soul gem and pressing it against my chest, closing my eyes as I feel its energy surge through me. After a few seconds, I open my eyes again, and my clothing has changed completely! My leather scraps of clothing, which before had only covered my most sensitive areas, now flow down across my body to create one gorgeous costume which reaches to my knees with a lovely spotted pattern, similar to the leopard hide that was originally there. My shoes had changed as well, reaching up my legs and thickening themselves so that my feet no longer feel the rough ground through them.

On top of my clothing, I am now holding an odd wooden rod in my hand, with two stones fashioned at the end that are tied to each other with a rope in such a way that they are loosely held together.

Curious, I swing the staff out at arm's length, watching the stones slam together and…make a fire! I smile as I bring the end closer, to feel its heat with my free hand.

"Thank you so much, this power is incredible…" I say to Kyubey as I lower the rod again, allowing the fire to dwindle away.

"You don't need to thank me; I'm simply doing my job." Kyubey says, swishing his tail back and forth, "I will come back in a day or so, to see how you're doing with your new powers. So until then, goodbye."

And with that, Kyubey bounds back towards the white boulder he had emerged from. With a shrug, I walk back up out of the hole and make my way back to my village, happily clutching the rod in my hands as the sun began to rise.

I manage to get back to the cave just as everyone seems to be waking up, still dressed in my bizarre new clothes and proudly waving around my fire making device. People rush over to me as they notice the small bursts of fire I let off with each swing, and I beam as they look at it in stunned silence as I make the flames dance in the sky. Once I have everyone's attention, I show them how the device works with two rocks slamming together, and it doesn't take long for people to start grabbing nearby stones and attempt to reenact the sparks I can summon at ease.

It takes a little while, but soon enough others are able to produce fire just like me. It doesn't last anywhere as long, and is much more difficult for them to get started, but I am very happy to be able to pass on this skill to my tribe. I may be the master of this skill, but if everyone can use it, our combined power will rival any beast or tribe that stands before us!

The men go out hunting, some brandishing logs that they hope to light on fire to hopefully make killing animals easier. We wave to them as they leave, and I even get some hunters thanking me on their way out, for providing them with this new ability.

Until today, I had never felt like I was important. I'm too young to bear children just yet, but too old to get away with doing whatever I like as the little kids do. I spend most of my days just helping the older women collect wild fruit nearby, and preparing skins for clothing or bedsheets. But now, everyone wants to know me, and it feels amazing.

I'm let off of my normal duties for today, given my new powers, and spend a little while entertaining the children by giving them a light show. I send of bursts and flurries of fire into the sky, practising how well I can arc the flames to make them look as impressive as I can without scaring them. Afterwards, we experiment a little with the fire, seeing what burns well and what doesn't, and soon enough we realise how much our food improves when heated up, as opposed to the frozen slabs of meat we had had to contend with up until this point.

When the hunters return, they bring with them an unbelievably large bounty of meats and skins, far more than they had ever previously collected. They explain how the fire terrified the creatures so easily, making it easier to control their movements and kill them where they stood instead of having to play a dangerous game of fight-or-flight. There were even other tribes who had watched them in shock, confused at how they were using such a mystical tool, and envious of our spoils.

…It seems likely that we will have people come after us, eager for the fire, but we are confident that we can fight them off as the only ones with the knowledge of how to utilise the flame at will.

Night comes soon enough, and I light the celebratory pyre inside of the cave, offering a large and warming glow for everyone to enjoy for the first truly peaceful night of our lives. When I finish casting the flame, though, it disappears in my hands and my clothes turn back to normal, much to the confusion of everyone. I try to shrug it off with a yawn, making the excuse that I must just be tired and need to rest so that my powers can replenish.

It isn't even a lie, I haven't slept for almost two days after all, and sleep will do me good. Everyone does want to party the night away, unfortunately, but it is a pleasant atmosphere so I don't mind it too much. Soon enough, I do manage to drift off to sleep…

The next few days go incredibly well, as we develop more and more techniques that utilise fire. The general atmosphere in the tribe has improved as well, now that the chilling weather can be less of a concern for us and our way of life can be lived more contentedly with fancier food and the like. I even get to join the hunters, when they suggest that my ability to directly manipulate fire would be invaluable in the field. They're right as well, as I am able to single-handedly take down small creatures like rabbits on my first try, and even work my way up to killing large animals such as mammoths by the end of the day. I truly get to feel like one of them, sharing in their stories of the wider world beyond the village that I had never seen before, and when we do return to the village that day I am so grateful for having made that contract Kyubey. Everyone is so much happier now, and I'm sure we can continue to be happy for some time to come...

In the night, I'm sharply awakened by the ear piercing shriek of a baby, my eyes flashing open as I jump up, the burning sensation of fire all around me and blinding my vision completely. I try to shield my eyes with my arms as my consciousness solidifies and I realise that I am trapped by a wall of fire inside the cave, along with several other people who are crying and trying to keep as far as possible from the blaze.

I reach for my soul gem, and in seconds I am once again in my magical girl state. Brandishing my staff, I strike it towards the wall of fire, pushing the flames backwards just a little. It's something, but it won't do if I plan to get us out of here…I close my eyes and try to imagine the fire cleared away, and feel the energy from my soul gem flow through me again, into the end of my staff, and creates a ball of wispy smoke. I thrust the ball of smoke to the flames with all my might, and as it flies into the flames they leap back, surging outwards and clearing a path out of the cave!

I sprint outside, closely followed by those who had been trapped in the cave with me, but as we emerge on the fields the sight we are greeted with is anything but reassuring. Men are yelling and throwing weapons at each other in a rage as women and children alike scream, running and hiding anywhere they think will be safe. As I look around, petrified, I notice large piles of wood and dry plants near the entrance of the cave. It must have been a rival tribe! They waited until we were sleeping, and use the plants to spread our fire out and use it against us…  
Some people notice me as I look around for somewhere I can go, and it looks like they were watching me controlling the flames earlier. Men from the rival tribe raise their spears, some of them tipped with fire, and charge towards me with blood curdling cries of war. I flail my staff around desperately, firing off flames instinctively, which hit them and send them sprawling as they are engulfed by the fire. I run away, unable to watch the violence as it rages on, and flinging fire at anyone who tries to come close.

I don't feel safe until I've left everyone far behind, hiding and crying beneath a tree as I throw the staff to the ground in frustration. It sparks a little, creating a small fire at my feet, and I stamp it out furiously to try and avoid attracting attention. The heat licks at my leg, but I just wince and try to ignore it as it goes out and leaves me to cower in the darkness.

'Well, I certainly didn't expect things to escalate this quickly.'

I lift my head up to see a pair of glowing red dots as they approach, blurred by my tears.

"Kyubey…why…why are you here?" I ask, brushing the tears out of my eyes and reaching down for my staff in fear.

"I am here to observe." Kyubey replies, plainly, "It's fascinating how much you've accomplished in just one day."

"I don't…understand…I thought you came to help! Look at all the destruction your gift has caused!" I cry between sobs.

"It wasn't me that made all of that happen. Your wish is what allowed your people the opportunity to control fire after all, I simply made that wish come true."

Kyubey tries to get near to me, but I swing my staff out to ward him off, the fire hitting him and burning his body instantly. I stare in shock as he is reduced to a burnt corpse, dimly lit by glowing embers in his fur.

"You shouldn't take your anger out on me like that. Its such a waste."

I dart my head upwards when I hear Kyubey's voice again, his cold red eyes staring down at me from branches in the tree.

"But…I killed you!" I exclaim, terrified.

"Well, you destroyed my body…" Kyubey sighs as he jumps down from the tree and sits in front of me when he reaches the ground, "...but I have many more. Please refrain from doing that again."

I just stare, unable to comprehend what exactly just happened. But as I do so, a wave of paralysis washes over me and I fold over, dropping my staff as I feel my body weakening. The staff disappears in a cloud of energy, and my clothes fade back to normal as I clutch my chest in pain.

"Wha…what's happening to me?" I ask Kyubey, crying far worse than before as the pain within me increases.

"You're dying. The lifespan of a magical girl is related to the amount of magic that they use, and their emotional state."

"You never told me about that!" I scream, collapsing to the ground. My soul gem falls onto the grass, it's hue now a deep blood red as dark impurities float around inside it.

"You never asked." Kyubey states.

I try to open my mouth to scream out at him again, but I can do nothing except cry out in agony as I feel my life dissipating away. Kyubey simply sits and watches as I convulse, and as my consciousness leaves me the last thing I can see is his red, uncaring eyes...


	2. Story Two: A wish to rule (Part one)

_**Author's Note: It totally didn't take me two weeks to work out how to write an Author's note. Not at all. Anyway, just wanted to say that I'm grateful for people reading my first chapter, and hope you enjoy this too! This story ended up being far longer than I first anticpated, so making it a two parter seemed fitting.**_

 _ **Oh, and one last thing! Feel free to leave any suggestions for time periods you would like to see me write about in the future, in the reviews section. I'm not great on history (as this story will probably show...) but it will help me produce a nice variety of stories in later chapters.**_

 _ **That's all for now, enjoy!**_

 **Story Two: A wish to rule**

I sigh as I make my way slowly back to my bedroom, slaves bowing down to me as I walk along the corridors. I'm leaving my brother's funeral, so of course their orders are to feel sorry for me. It's always such an effort to appear so sad for the public, especially when you're the one responsible for the dead body. Well, not directly, but it's not as if anyone will find out about the assassination anyway. I simply bat away the slaves as I reach my chamber, unamused by the offers of fruits and fans as the warm night sets in.

The moon hangs just outside my bedside window, the light pouring onto the bed as I climb in and try to settle into sleep.

'Maybe I should've just waited a little longer…' I think to myself as I turn away from the moonlight, sighing, 'His sudden death might not have been such a good idea, with the country in such a state…'

'Hmm, I don't know if I'd say that. It seemed like a logical decision to me.'

A chill runs down my spine when I hear a voice from across the room, turning to face it as I sit up in bed. Casting a long shadow across the room is an odd furry creature, sitting on the windowsill and obscuring the view. They appear cat-like, with white fur and bizarre red rings decorating their body.

"I must be dreaming." I say, staring at the creature.

"You're not dreaming." They respond, without opening their mouth. They tilt their head slightly, studying me as I look back at it, confused.

"I am Cleopatra VII Philopator, and I demand to know what you are doing here!" I shout at them, eyeing the creature sternly. I am hardly unfamiliar with stories about strange creatures - after all, I am the reincarnation of Isis - but this is just ridiculous.

"There's no need to yell." They respond, turning to look to the door with caution, as if guards would burst in at any moment. "I am communicating with you in your mind, and it would be much easier if you do so too." The creature leaps from the window and lands in front of the bed, just below where I was looking before, I crawl towards the edge of the bed, glancing at it in distaste.

"Anyway..." they continue, unfazed by my opinion, "my name is Kyubey, and I have come to offer you something."

"What could a creature like you possibly have to offer me?" I ask, attempting to formulate the sentence as requested, in my mind.

"Power, your majesty. I can grant any wish you possibly desire! All you have to do is make a contract with me and become a magical girl!" Kyubey says, giving me a smile as he looks up towards me.

"I am no girl. I am a queen, and I have no intention of playing games with you." I state, turning away from him and lying back down in bed. Persistent, Kyubey jumps onto the bed and perches himself on the end of it.

"My apologies, I had no intention of insulting you." He says. I try to ignore him and go to sleep, but even without hearing him breathe I can clearly feel his presence linger by my feet. After what feels like hours, I let out a small sigh and sit back up, looking towards his glowing red eyes which are the only remaining lights this late into the night.

"…go on then." I say, tired, "What exactly can you offer me?"

Kyubey appears to smile ecstatically, bouncing on the spot at my resigned approval.

"As I said before, anything! You make a wish, and I can grant it for you." Kyubey tells me. I look at him quizzically, certain that this is some sort of trick, but he just continues to smile.

"And if you are worried that I have some darker intentions, I assure you that is not the case. Part of your contract will be to kill witches, creatures of darkness. They are dangerous, but I am sure they will be no match for the likes of you."

I consider his offer for a moment: partly to reason whether or not this actually real, and partly to resolve exactly what it is I would wish for. I look out the window, to the city outside that is being faintly illuminated by torchlight and the stars above, and think about my people. They are already enraged at me with the state that the civilisation is currently in, and the untimely death of my brother isn't exactly going to help matters either…

"Alright, Kyubey, you have a deal." I assert as I turn back to face him. "I wish for my people to revere me and obey my rule without question."

Kyubey simply nods in compliance, and I am momentarily numbed as my body locks up and I watch on in fear. Every point on my body feels as if it's being held in place by taut strings, which are centred in my chest as some energy is being dragged out from it. A bright orange glow radiates from there and leaves my body, hovering in front of me as I am able to relax once more. Drained, I reach for the light in front of me and clasp it between my hands. It solidifies, creating an amber gemstone in the place of the glow that was there before.

"The contract is complete." Kyubey says with a triumphant smile, "You are now a magical girl!" I simply respond with a weak nod as I collapse back onto the bed; the last thing I take in is that the crystal I'm holding seems to warp, so that it fits snuggly into my necklace as I fall asleep…

When I am forced to awake only a little while later, for the rising of the sun ceremony, I peel myself out of bed and make my way to the outside of the building. My servants organise my appearance as I go, and I stifle a yawn when I reach the balcony. The rest of the city lies far below, as this height will allow me to be the first person that can personally greet the sun, and I hold my staff tight as light begins to emerge in the distance. I greet the sun in my customary manner as it makes its way over the horizon, long luminous trails tracking across the flat land as it makes its presence known. I look down to the city below, and am surprised to see enormous crowds of people filling up the streets. They smile up to me in baited silence, as if they are truly happy to see me.

Their excitement pleases me, and I raise my staff high as I smile down to them, the sunlight striking against my body and making the gemstone in my necklace sparkle.

"Thank you, all of you, for joining me this morning. Today will be a turning point for all of us, I am sure, and it is fitting that you can be here to see that! I realise times have been harsh on us all lately, and the death of my dear brother has only made things seem even more dire, but I can promise you all that I will personally bring our great civilisation back up to its former glory from this moment onward!"

The crowd instantly bursts into rapturous applause, and even some of my nearby servants can't help themselves. Satisfied, I wave to my subjects one last time and make my way back inside to attend to my daily duties.

"I must say, you handled that quite brilliantly."

I glance down quizzically to see Kyubey, smiling and walking alongside me. He jumps up as I stop to observe him, climbing up my gown and settling himself around my neck like a scarf.

I sigh, and continue to walk towards the audience chamber. On the way, I feel momentarily lightheaded, and some servants move to catch me as I get close to falling against a wall. They ask if I'm okay but I simply bat them away, smiling and moving on.

"…why did that just happen?" I ask Kyubey, trying to maintain my smile despite my concerns, "it didn't feel like some normal illness..."

"It's because of this, your soul gem." he explains, indicating to the gem in my necklace with his tail, "you'll notice it has darkened quite considerably since last night. It darkens when you use your magic. Since you have the power to sway the minds of your people, which there are a lot of, it takes up quite a lot of magic."

I try to keep a straight face once I sit down, taking in this realisation, and begin to make my way through several scrolls from a large pile presented to me on the desk.

"So, what do I do about it?" I ask Kyubey, rather sternly as I begin to worry.

"It's easy enough to purify your soul gem." Kyubey informs me, climbing down from my neck and making a space for himself on the desk, "All you have to do is kill those witches I mentioned before. They will drop grief seeds when you kill them, and you can purify your soul gem using them. When you are done with your duties as Queen for the day, I will happily guide you through the process."

I just nod impatiently, resolving to ignore him until that point in time. The scrolls I have before me range in severity from petty complaints to plans in which we can expand our claimed land, all of which seem so daunting to answer. I glance down to my soul gem a little, noting how discoloured it is. It only looks somewhat duller, so I can safely assume that a little more use of its magic won't hurt… I begin to write, allowing my subconscious to take over, along with my magic. My words seem to be guided effortlessly, producing profound solutions to the problems at hand and even enabling me to write incredibly strategies by which we can improve the productivity of the slaves tenfold. I manage to keep this up for almost an hour, to the point when the last scroll is handed to my servants, and I crumple over the desk in exhaustion. My soul gem is considerably darker now, the amber colouration now resembling something more like mud than anything else, and I look over to Kyubey in concern.

He begins to march off on cue, heading out of the room and on the way to the entrance of the temple. I look to the servants as I work out how I can leave quietly, and simply attempt to wave them away as I follow after Kyubey. It mostly goes well, given my status, but I do end up using some portion of magic when I am finally outside and have to singlehandedly navigate my way past guards and common folk. Normally, I would never travel in this fashion, especially not in such a way that the soil would make contact with me directly. But I fear I don't have a choice today, given Kyubey's description of the witches, I do not wish to cause panic in my people by bringing servants with me.

After a short while, Kyubey takes me to a small secluded area on the planes, which is mostly barren with the exception of a few trees in which I hide myself from the scorching sun.

"Okay, this seems far enough." Says Kyubey, reclining at the base of the tree, "The first step to hunting down a witch is to use your soul gem. It can pick them up from a reasonable distance, and will shine brighter the closer you get."  
I remove my soul gem from my necklace and allow it to transform itself back into the crystal egg shape it had before, taking in the way that it seems to ever so faintly glow brighter and darker. I hold it out at arm's length, attempting to survey which way this witch is. After stepping out from the tree and testing a few directions, I find my bearings and walk where my soul gem shines brightest, which appears to be near the river. Kyubey follows along, and soon enough we have reached the riverbank, where I can see some labourers transporting stone and lumber further downstream. My soul gem is glowing quite rapidly now, and as I try to locate the exact location of the witch a gaping hole appears in front of me, directly over the river.

"That is the entrance to the Witch's labyrinth." Kyubey explains, "Let's go inside." Cautiously, I follow Kyubey through the gateway. When I make my way inside, I am completely unprepared for the sight I find.

The entire world is a large grassy field, unlike anything I have ever seen out here in the desert, but the sky is a sickening mauve and any trees in sight are charcoal black and spindly, as if a fire has ravaged the place. I walk through the grass carefully, but it doesn't seem to sway the way I expect it too. It looks like normal grass, and the blades reach up to my ankles, but they feel all sharp as if they have been made out of thin strips of parchment that has merely been cut and painted so that it resembles grass. I shake my head and carry on, following my soul gem as a guide, along with Kyubey.

After a few minutes, I hear an odd murmur of voices from behind the deep mass of trees, and turn in the direction that I hear them. I can only see small glimpses of motion between the trees, tiny silhouettes and the distant sound of crunching paper. A soft wind brushes past me, disturbing the 'grass' around my feet and leaving a papercut down one of my ankles. I grit my teeth as I look down and see blood trickle down onto the paper grass. As if to spite me further, the noises stop for a moment, and when I look back up I see the creatures charging straight at me!

They're upon me in seconds, bounding out of the trees and revealing themselves as a pack of rabid dogs, except blockier in nature than their usual furry appearance. Their teeth are bared and glistening with saliva as they run, clearly attracted by my fresh blood. I flail and fall backwards, the grass digging into my skin as the dogs jump onto me. I let out a scream as one lands on top of me, it's slobber landing on my chest and causing me to grimace as I push them off me in disgust.  
"Kyubey, what do I do?!" I scream as I continue to hold the dogs off.

"Turn into a magical girl, using your soul gem!" Kyubey says, watching the struggle from the side and avoiding the circling dogs nearby. I clutch my soul gem tight in my head, trying to imagine this power that will get these dogs off of me, and in moments I am coated in the same bright light from last night, which throws the creatures off of me. I stand up as power surges through me, my wounds no longer affecting me, and the light bathes me as I feel my clothing transform.

My gown flows out across the ground, encircling me as gold ribbons work their way around into intricate patterns that adorn the inside and outside of it. My heels reshape themselves as well, become more flattened and balanced underfoot as they gain a black trim to compliment the sandy shading they had before. A staff materialises in front of me, and I grasp it as it takes solid shape. It is an earthy bronze, with detailed vines that wind from its base to its tip, which is a large glass orb that has a sun based emblem etched into its centre.  
As my transformation is completed, I slam the rod down into the ground, sending a shockwave out in all directions that makes the dogs jump back with worry. Creatures take shape directly around me, and although I'm initially concerned it soon becomes clear that they are on my side. They resemble the guards from the temple, translucent but very much present as they size up the enemy. I thrust my staff upwards and command them to attack. The half dozen men charge towards the dogs, tearing them apart in seconds. Once they have all been cleared, the men I summoned dissipate, leaving me with Kyubey and a pile of mangled corpses.

"Congratulations your majesty, that was very well handled for your first battle." Kyubey says with a smile, "but they were very weak enemies, the witch is still to come."  
I nod with a confident smirk, and hold my soul gem out once more as we make our way further into the labyrinth to hunt down the Witch…

After a little while, the trees become sparser and we end up before a lone stone tower, reaching high into the clouds above it. Like the grass and the dogs, it seems to be somewhat fake, although it is hard to tell what exactly is wrong with it. I find out soon enough, as the tower comes crashing down in my direction and forces me to jump out of the way so that it doesn't land on top of me. When it hits the ground, the tower falls apart into its separate bricks, but they appear to be made with some sort of stuffing because they flop about instead of landing with a thump like bricks should. As things settle once more, I look back to where the tower once was, and where the witch now stands.

The witch seems human in shape, only a head taller than myself. Her hair is a waterfall of blonde, reaching down onto the ground over a simple nightdress. She is not wearing any shoes, nor seems to be holding any weapon, but she glares at me with piercing blue eyes in readiness to kill me where I stand. Preparing myself, I raise my staff and summon a small army to fight, at least 20 men that can protect me against any of her attacks. She begins to slowly approach, and as she does so I realise that she has a faint border around her. Determined to end this quickly, I send my forces forward to attack her directly. They get within a few feet of her, before she raises a hand to block them. The grass beneath their feet surges upwards like needles, stabbing through them and forcing their bodies to disintegrate in seconds.

I step back, a little more nervous about just how much power this Witch might have. Frantically, I produce a ring of guards as a shield around my body, and start to run around the Witch to see if there is some way to strike her from behind. As I do so, I realise that the Witch is in fact paper thin, her appearance is merely a picture stuck onto it a surface. She turns as I run, so that I can only see her edge for a moment, but it's enough to give me an idea.  
I stop my run, planting the staff into the ground to steady myself as I square up against the Witch. She launches an attack at me, sending the blades of grass on the ground up in a wave to hit me. I throw my men into the blades, creating a meat shield that prevents anything from touching me. With a strong slam into the ground with my staff, I send a shockwave that shakes the witch's balance and causes the grass to retract. As I pull the staff back out of the ground I indicate with it all around the Witch, summoning a circle of guards a good distance from her. She pauses, turning to face them as she looks in all directions by gradually turning. I see that her back is the same as her front, meaning she can see in both directions. Not that it will be a problem.

I order the men to charge at her all at once, summoning another wave directly behind them to fill the place where they just stood. The witch reacts immediately, driving grass blades through the closest men, but I send the second wave in straight away as I summon yet another ring. The witch is forced to turn a little to kill and entire wave of guards, as she cannot see to her immediate left or right. I continue to do this, faster and faster, as the witch attempts to constantly block them with her attacks. The more I repeat the process, the closer my soldiers get, and soon enough they are climbing over the previous bodies as they shatter, to get right up against the witch. She cannot do anything as they pile on, smothering her and preventing any retaliation as she is merciless beaten down. Eventually, the men fall away to leave the dead witch, her body fading away along with the forest around me.

I end up back by the riverside, as if nothing had ever happened. The Sun has tracked across the sky a little, so for all I know I was probably in there for an hour or so. My body is heaving with agony, and I can tell without looking that my soul gem is close to jet black. Kyubey reappears, where before he must have been hiding in the trees, and as I fall to the ground he bounds over with some black pin-like object in his mouth. My clothing transforms back to normal as I reach out for it, breathing heavily as he drops it into my hand. I lift my soul gem to touch it, and watch as the impurities flow from it into the object that I can only assume to be a grief seed. It is clear once again as the process is completed, and I can breathe easy now that I feel much better.

"You managed to defeat a witch, well done your majesty." Kyubey says as he takes the grief seed off of me, and allows me to slowly push myself back to my feet, "I'm sure you will kill many more in the future." I slot the soul gem back into my necklace and offer him an arm to climb onto me by. He joins me around my neck once more, and I smile as I stand straight.

"Thank you Kyubey, I too am certain of that. This power you have given me, it will be put to great use I am sure…" I say, smiling as I make my way back to the city.

I'm unsure of how long I will be able to maintain this balance of magic and my own political power, but I know that I will not die without using it to its full effect first...

 **End of Part One**


	3. Story Two: A wish to rule (Part Two)

_**Author's Note: Sorry this is slightly late, I was busier than I expected to be and had trouble finalising an ending. Anyway, here's the conclusion to Cleopatra's story!**_

 **Story Two: A wish to rule (Part Two)  
**

It has been a good few years since I secured my contract with Kyubey, and with time I have managed to coordinate my powers more fluently. Conveniently, Kyubey has also been able to indulge me in some more information concerning the intricacies of the contract I made with him, including the importance of making sure my soul gem is kept purified.  
But of course, as time has moved on, it is only natural that I have been forced further and further away from the ability to simply go wherever I please and hunt down a few witches here and there. So, to make sure I have a healthy supply of grief seeds, I have managed to orchestrate a secret society of magical girls. The girls themselves range from my nearest hand servants to random commoners off the street. Kyubey has never explained precisely why it can only be girls, or the manner in which he chooses the girls to make contracts with him, but regardless of this I have meticulously kept at least a dozen of the best currently operating magical girls in close contact at all times.

They are paid handsomely for their work, to keep their queen in peak condition, but are of course sworn to secrecy and I have not hesitated for a moment to silence those who have compromised the balance in the land that I am trying to maintain.

My meetings with my magical girl council occur weekly, exactly one hour after the sun has set, in a chamber far beneath the ground so as to ensure nobody might stumble across it. Nothing seems particularly amiss today as I collect up the grief seeds from them, except the fact that one of my poorer magical girls has been offering more grief seeds than the others for some time now. I pay them all and let them leave for their homes, bar the outstanding servant, bidding her to wait while I collect the appropriate sum of money.

"Tell me, what is your name?" I ask her as I walk into the back room where my valuables are safely locked away.  
"M…marina, your majesty…" the young girl tells me, fiddling with her skirt nervously.  
"What a delightful name!" I tell her, as I come back to meet her with a sizeable bag of coins and small jewels, "I must tell you, your work lately has been very impressive. I know, I should conduct myself more formally when addressing someone like you, but these circumstances are hardly ordinary." I hand her the bag, and she smiles as she opens it slightly to examine its contents.  
"Y…you're very kind…" she says, looking frightfully pale as she avoids making eye contact with me on instinct, "but I'm just doing it for the money to be honest, I don't have many other options…" I take a moment to properly examine her appearance. She is exceptionally young for the standard magical girl, not much older than 11 at best, and her clothing is so worn and dust covered that I can't imagine her home being much more than a hole in the ground.

"Well…you certainly deserve the money; you're performing a very important duty after all!" I tell her, trying to smile since I haven't had to hold a conversation like this before.

"Thank…you…" She mumbles, swaying heavily. I reach out to grab her instinctively when I see her falling backwards, ignoring the dirt that now covers my arms as I hold her by her shoulders. The bag of coins falls out of her grip, scattering its contents across the floor with the clinking of metal on stone as I look down. I notice that from one of her limp arms hangs a necklace made of woven reeds, with a single large green jewel threaded into it. It is ashen grey across its surface, and my eyes open wide as I realise it must be her soul gem. It's far too tainted to be safe!

Before I can react, Marina's eyes glaze over, her soul gem shattering and splintering into the all too familiar shape of a grief seed. My body is sent flying backwards by the force of the transformation, slamming me into a wall and making me slump to the ground. The walls of the chamber begin to warp and meld from the two rooms that were there before into one small room with walls made of cream clay instead of chiselled stone. A small window appears to form in one wall, mostly obscured by a wooden board, allowing some faint beams on sunlight to cut through the room and pick out particles of dust in the air. Instinctively, I grab for my soul gem around my neck and transform into my magical girl form as I stand back up, to face the witch that has now appeared where Marina used to be.

The witch is…begging. She appears to be the silhouette of a young girl, kneeling with her arms outstretched as if to expect some payment. The coins that were on the floor before have disappeared, so there's nothing I can offer her except the jewellery I'm wearing. And I'm certainly not in a charitable mood for a witch. I stand there, awkwardly watching it from across the small room with my staff held tight between my two hands, waiting.

"You can just go; I won't hunt you." I tell the witch as we observe each other, "Move your labyrinth somewhere else and we can both be on our way."

Her head tilts up slightly, so that her sunken eyes meet mine. There are tears streaming down her shadowy face, like two clear streams which drip onto the earthy floor below. She's sobbing now, her screams worse than the wails of an infant, but just before I am able to cover my ears her arms break away from their begging position and surge towards me. They latch onto my staff, violently trying to tug it out of my grip.

I dig my feet into the ground and wrestle with the witch, keeping a firm hold onto my staff so that I won't lose it. She jumps up to me in an attempt to knock me over, but I simply kick her squarely in the chest as she comes closer, sending her sprawling across the room. My fighting style is completely unsuited for close range combat, but with the labyrinth in such a confined space I simply have no choice in the matter. I swing my staff upwards and summon one soldier to fight for me, so that I don't have to take direct blows, and order him to charge at the witch as it rises to fight again.

In an instant, her spindly arms are wrapped tightly around my servant like ropes, preventing him from moving whatsoever. I swish my staff around to make him disintegrate, creating a new one just next to the one that had been destroyed. The witch's reaction times aren't quite fast enough and she receives a solid punch across her face, which throws her completely off balance. I manage to coordinate my servant around her attacks and soon enough I manage to pin her against a wall so that she cannot send her arms out to attack me.

"I told you, we didn't have to fight…" I tell her as I walk towards her, the base of my staff raised to waist height, "and I'm sorry, I wouldn't do this if I didn't have to."

I stab my staff cleanly through the witch's chest, the end of it sticking out the other side as she screams, with tears spraying in all directions. Her body begins to wither and melt, and I call away my servant as the walls of the labyrinth begin to fade away.

Soon enough, I am back in the chamber I was before, and a grief seed lies amongst the scattered coins on the floor. Marina's body is gone, mercifully lost inside the labyrinth. With a sigh I reach down and collect everything up, using the grief seed to slightly purify my soul gem from the battle. Once that is done, I walk into the back room and retrieve my 'special' box. It is an ordinary looking wooden box, with a golden catch that flicks up easily from the force I exert with my thumb. Inside, it is brimming with an assortment of grief seeds of all shades and shapes. I add the new grief seed to the collection, and close it back up as I hear the door to my chamber creak open slightly.

"Your actions always intrigue me, Cleopatra..." Kyubey says from the doorway as I turn to face him, "You have known the secret about the grief seeds for some time now, and yet you still choose not to inform the other magical girls. Not even these girls you have selected to be your elite, they are as oblivious as the rest. Why is that, I wonder?"

"It requires an understanding of emotions, Kyubey. That's why you don't get it." I respond, coldly, "Finding out that the witches and the magical girls are one and the same is not a remotely pleasant discovery. As you have made it clear that the process of a soul gem becoming a grief seed is sped up by negative emotions, I am ensuring that process takes as long as possible and the overall suffering of my people is at a minimum."

"Hmm, I see." Kyubey says as I move to leave. I begin to ascend the stairs back to the outside so that I can go to bed, and Kyubey follows on behind me as I do so.  
"Even so," Kyubey continues, "you WOULD get more grief seeds, so I don't see the issue in ensuring the continuation of your life by comprising those of your people."

I swiftly kick a leg backward so that it connects with Kyubey's face, sending him hurtling down the stairs as I leave him behind, wiping a single tear away as I go to bed.

I become a lot more cautious with the magical girls I enlist after the incident with Marina, including check-ups on everyone's soul gems in our weekly meetings, and although the grief seed count obviously decreases somewhat it still makes me feel like I'm doing my duty to my people.  
With less grief seeds, comes less ability for me to use my magic to guide my people, so it becomes clear that I have to try some alternative method. I choose to ally myself with the Roman Empire, because their considerable might was definitely something I would want on my side as opposed to against me.

The strategy is somewhat successful when I seduce Julius Caesar; our son even being able to rule alongside me, but of course everything falls apart when Caesar is assassinated. Despite my best efforts, my people are clearly swayed given the image that my allegiance has changed to that of the Romans, so in an attempt to counteract things I side with Mark Anthony and turn so that we are now fighting against those who were supporters of Caesar.

The situation is only escalating from there, and now all-out war has become inevitable. And so, the Battle of Actium is upon us.

Mark Anthony is in charge of our forces, but I have been given the duty to provide the actual power for the confrontation. I give him all the man power I possibly can, as well as the transport for them to reach the opposing Empire. I stand at the highest point of the Sun temple, just able to see the fleet out at sea as they enter the battle. I close my eyes and concentrate, able to feel my magic just reach them.

It's not right for me to just stand here as my people fight…so I guide them. I attempt to manipulate the battle that rages on miles away, coordinating my men as if they were the servants I have summoned many a time when combatting witches.

...But the Romans are something, something far more than the might of any witch… I don't know what it is the makes them so formidable, maybe it's because their scale of attack is so much larger than the witches, or that their strategies are so much more intricate…

Whatever it is, there is no way that I can control a battle of this scale. Even attempting to control the men as groups, on the individual ships, is a pointless effort because the Romans organise themselves so much better than us. Within minutes our fleet is encircled by their boats, and although my men flee to underneath the waves when their boats are being rammed, it is clear that the situation is far too dire.

Tears stream down my face as my concentration breaks, opening my eyes to see my soul gem reaching a jet black. I rush over to my chest of grief seeds, ripping my soul gem from around my neck and stuffing it into the layers of black jewels. I can feel the impurities drain from my soul gem and I sigh with relief as energy floods back to me, quickly shutting my eyes once more to reconnect with the battle.

The ships are all ablaze, and my men have scattered like frightened fish as the enemy massacres them from the safety of their boats. I take a deep breath, and with all the energy I can muster I force my men to rise out the water and onto the enemy boats. Countless men die attempting to climb the ladders but I push on, allowing the bodies to cover the waters and the blood to paint the battlefield crimson just so anyone can stand and fight on top of those boats.  
But even on level ground, my remaining army lacks any weaponry. This isn't like the witch battles; I can't just summon more men… I can hear their screams in my mind as I send them to their deaths, barely denting the opposition with their bodies in my last futile attempt to deal a blow to them.

They're…dead. They're all…dead. I killed them all…  
I fall to my knees as my powers leave me, my chest of grief seeds scattering across the floor along with my soul gem, which is just as dark as they are.  
"Quite fascinating…I have never met a magical girl who tried to use as much power as you. It was certainly a valiant effort."

I merely scream out in agony when I hear Kyubey's voice, beating my arms against the cold stone floor and send the grief seeds flying in all directions. Many roll off the edge of balcony, cascading like water down the side of the temple as I fall to the ground in agony.

"Shut up, you beast!" I roar, unable to look up as my tears splatter and form a puddle around my soul gem, "You have talked highly of me all these years, like I was more important than the other magical, but I'm just another idiot that accepted your contract!"  
Kyubey shakes his head as he approaches, collecting up the remaining grief seeds in turn and absorbing them through the red ring on his back as he circles me.

"That isn't strictly true, you are royalty after all." Kyubey says, "And your power is quite something…you could even make the claim that I'm 'excited' to see the witch that will hatch from you."

My tears stop and I put a hand to my mouth in shock as that realisation clicks in my head about my imminent fate. I swing my arm down and clasp my soul gem tight in my hands as I get back to my feet.  
"No, I will not allow that to happen." I state, glaring at Kyubey, before I make my way back inside the building. I run to my chamber and pull out a vial of poison from underneath my pillow, something I had kept tucked away for this very occasion.  
"What are you doing?" Kyubey enquires with a cocked head as he enters my room, watching me down the poison in three quick gulps, "You know full well that you can't kill yourself like that, your life force is in the soul gem now."  
"I am merely providing some evidence…" I sigh, letting the empty bottle fall out of my hands and shatter on the floor, "My people will want some explanation about how their ruler killed themselves."

I make my way over to a chair and slump into it, hanging my head back over the top of it and breathing deeply as I delicately handle my soul gem one last time. I place my soul gem down on the ground, by my feet, and let it settle while I eye up the trickster that started this painful reign of mine.  
"Goodbye, Kyubey…" I say, closing my eyes as a smile starts to spread across my face, "It hasn't been pleasant."  
And with that, I slam a foot down over my soul gem and grind it into dust, my body exploding in pain as my life disintegrates around me…


	4. Apologies and Updates

_I'll try to be as clear as possible, I realise I've let this story gather dust for quite some time. Basically, I'm just awful at keeping things updated. Good to be honest about that. But, I've had some pretty solid encouragement to give this a try again. I'm not sure when that will be, but right now I'd like to hope I could start writing within the next week or so._

 _As some small way of apologising for such a long absence, here is an extract from the upcoming chapter. Obviously, things might change, but I have a very concrete plot already drafted up._

Yuki always told me that when she helped people, it was because she couldn't just stand and watch them suffer. I know that wasn't completely true, she was a bit of an attention seeker, but it was still sweet and I understood that motivation. But after the fox spirit turned up and she got those new powers...I didn't know anymore. I still saw her, from time to time, but more and more often she was locked away in the shrine. She even charged the villages for her services after a while, it was sick. I mean, I was thankful that she wasn't some con, and could actually contact their deceased relatives...but she just wasn't my friend anymore. I asked the fox spirit many times if Yuki could simply back out of the contract and go back to her normal life, but I just got solemn negatives and the ever hanging offer of making one myself. There was nothing to wish for though, I didn't need anything. We lived in a very simple village after all, I liked the fact that nothing ever seemed to happen...


End file.
